One quick note I forgot to mention at the start: this takes place after Exit Wounds and is set roughly two weeks after the events of Almost Perfect.

It should have been the rays of the morning sun that brought Rhys Williams out of his slumber or maybe the chorus of children's voices as they enjoyed their weekend off from school. But no; Rhys' Saturday morning lie in was now being cut short dramatically by the loud and, he suspected, exaggerated movements of his wife, Gwen Cooper. He found it strange that not ten minutes ago, Gwen was snug quite contently into his side, her head resting on his chest as she began to stir from her sleep. He stroked the hair from her face and placed a single kiss to her forehead. It had been such a long time since they had had the time to enjoy each other's company and let themselves wake up entwined in each other's embrace. It was the perfect Saturday morning. It was only when the numbers on their alarm clock came into the view of her barely open eyes did Gwen launch herself from their cosy bed, swearing blue murder about being late and yelling at Rhys for letting her stay in bed so long. Well, Rhys thought, at least the first thirty seconds of this day were good.

'I can't believe you didn't set the alarm.' Gwen was now back in their bedroom with a piece of toast dangling from her mouth as she tried to find her boots. Throwing Rhys' shirt from last night to one side, she sighed around her morning snack as she retrieved her boots and sat at the edge of the bed. 'It's alright you not having to work on a Saturday, but there are some of us on call 24/7. God, Jack is going to wind me right up about this.'

Rhys glanced at the alarm. 7.30am, that was all. It would be too easy to blame this all on Tosh and Owen's death and he hated himself for thinking it. Their deaths had had such an impact on Gwen, Rhys was not sure where he stood anymore. He knew his wife was hurting badly from losing two of her co-workers, two of her friends. He had been there for her, holding her tightly when the pain became just too much and she needed some reminder of what she was actually fighting for. But recently, Gwen was pulling away from Rhys, throwing herself into her work as she tried to keep up with Jack and Ianto. Rhys knew Gwen's stubborn streak wouldn't let her falter; she was overworked and overtired but she wasn't going to allow those two to find out. Her pride was just too big and Rhys couldn't help but hate her slightly for it.

'For Christ sake, Gwen. So you had a lie in for a change?' Rhys could feel the anger beginning to rumble inside of him. He knew he should have just kept quiet, but the lack of sleep and the lack of his wife's presence recently was only adding fuel to his already out of control fire. He was wide awake now as he peered into Gwen's eyes. 'If the world was truly being invaded by a hoard of Weebles or whatever, I'm sure we'd see it from the bloody window.' He watched as Gwen zipped up her boots and, still with her eyes on his, stood up and straightened herself to her full height.

'Firstly, Rhys, it's Weevils, not Weebles.' Gwen stood with her hands on her hips, the stance she usually took when she meant business. 'Secondly, I have a job to do. I wish I could just crawl back into bed with you and spend a weekend without a care in the world. But ever since...' Her eyes began to cloud over as she remembered Tosh and Owen and how they weren't going to be there when she walked through that cog door. It was her, Jack and Ianto now; the three of them, fighting for the future on behalf of the human race. 'I have to go on, Rhys. They need me there.' Gwen was about to turn away when Rhys called to her.

'What about me needing you here?' It sounded selfish and pigheaded and everything other than the way Rhys had meant it to sound like. He could see the hurt and pain in his wife's eyes as he bridged the gap between them, trembling slightly as he held her hands. 'It's just... I don't want to lose you to that place. I know you have a job to do but like you say, you fight to keep the world going. You fight for us, so let's not let it slip away.' Gwen stiffened as she remembered what Jack had said when she had first joined. Don't let it slip away. This life with Rhys, being married and with the talk of getting a bigger place and children, Gwen knew she couldn't just shove it away from her for the sake of Torchwood. She sighed and met Rhys' lips with her own as she poured her heart and soul into the small show of her affection.

'I'm sorry,' she said as she pulled away from him, resting her forehead on his. 'Everything recently has just been so....' She was interrupted by Rhys' as he lay a finger on her lips.

'I know,' he spoke softly. 'You're still finding your feet. I just wanted you to know that I'll be here for you to come home to.' He kissed her again before wrapping his arms around her petit form and pulling her close to his chest.

'I don't deserve you,' Gwen said, slightly muffled by Rhys' shoulder. She inhaled his scent as she lost herself momentarily in the embrace. She didn't want to pull away but she was still aware that she was running late. 'How about we go out for lunch later? That is if you're not too busy doing bugger all on your day off.' Gwen gave a cheeky smile as Rhys displayed a mock expression of shock.

'It's a date.' Rhys chucked as he stole one more kiss from his wife before she was out of the bedroom and out of their flat. Knowing there was no way he was going to get back to sleep, he made his way into the living room and turned on the television. Having flicked through the channels, he settled on a kids cartoon before heading to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. Ten minutes later, with a pack of rich tea biscuits, Rhys found himself sat in front of the television watching children's entertainment. This was what Saturdays were made for.

*****

Gwen briskly entered the fake Tourist Information centre, throwing her empty takeaway coffee into the nearest bin. She didn't dare walk into the Hub with it as she really wasn't up for facing the wrath of Ianto this early in the morning. She walked through and down into the Hub, hoping that maybe Jack and Ianto were out already or that they had spent the night at Ianto's doing what Gwen had seen them get up to in the greenhouse not that long ago. Those boys really needed to get some kind of secondary security device just for them. As the cog door opened, Gwen was taken aback at how quiet it was; the computers were running on silent, the lights in the main section were still lit as night light, even Myfanwy was quiet up in her nest.

'Jack? Ianto?' Gwen called out, not really expecting an answer. 'If you two are playing naked hide and seek again...' she faltered as she spotted a small object on Tosh's workstation; Gwen shook her head as she remembered it wasn't Tosh's anymore, now that Ianto had moved his little work area to the main section. It seemed only right to have him up here and not down in the far corner. She couldn't make out what it was exactly, only it looked a lot like a jewellery box. She was almost mesmerised by the artefact; there was something about it that was almost calling her to it. She watched as the small container began to glow and it was almost as if it was whispering to her. Before she realised, her hand was raising up towards it. She was only aware of Ianto's waning voice at the last second.

'Gwen, don't touch it.'